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“Mother Anne, is there anything that you want of the furnishings in the chambers?” Elizabeth asked as she lightly touched the vase with roses on the table by the windows.

“The reason that everything is new in here, Lizzy,” she said as she touched her new daughter’s arm in appreciation for her selfless thoughts, “is that anything that I wanted is in my suite already. William insisted that I take them when I moved out of the master suite as my George was not here to share it with me. As he could not get me to stay in the chambers, I compromised with taking some of the items. Do not tell him I would have preferred a few new things as well.” She tried to smile when Elizabeth laughed.

“I also told William to move into the master’s chambers when I left to support the beginning of his tenure as master. ”

“Then should something break when you are reading or turning around because you are startled, I will promise to go shopping with you in support of your ‘loss’.” Lizzy offered, helping Lady Anne laugh again to ease the surge of pain.

“I thank you for the offer, Lizzy. I believe I shall take you up on it.” Lady Anne nodded,

“Anne, am I correct that roses are your favourite flowers?” Lady Sarah asked as a change of subject to support the redirection from maudlin thoughts.

“Yes, Sarah. I love my roses above all other flowers. We have them year-round at Pemberley as the gardeners keep a selection growing in the conservatory,” Lady Anne offered as they transitioned to the shared sitting room.

“I cannot imagine you changing a thing in here, Lizzy. This is precisely the sitting room I would have designed with you in mind,” Lady Sarah offered as they entered the sitting room.

Elizabeth’s smiled with unaffected joy as she thought about sitting on the couch reading with her William in front of a roaring fire during the long winter evenings.

“You are right, the room is otherwise perfect, Mother. Except,” she turned to the housekeeper, “Mrs. Reynolds, two additional pillows for the settee, not one. You never know when I will need to throw one, and if his Grace gets as lost in Homer as I sometimes get, a second one may be required as I will not want to give up the one I am lounging on.” Lizzy smiled brightly as her mother and mother-in-law laughed and Mrs. Reynolds made a note.

Whether or not Lady Elizabeth meant it, they would be added to her settee.

The room truly did not need any changes as her William used it all the time, therefore it was up to date and very comfortable.

“I love the furniture and colours, and especially the fact that there are bookcases so that there will always be reading material for myself and William here,” she said wistfully.

“I agree with your mother, Lizzy. This is the perfect proof that you and William are so well matched,” Lady Anne gave a cryptic smile to Lady Sarah as they had privately agreed it had taken too long for Elizabeth and William to come to the point.

They proceeded into the master’s chambers, which Lizzy believed perfectly epitomised her William.

The décor was very masculine, almost the same as Darcy House, the walls hunter green with some light browns.

Lizzy blushed all over again when she saw that the bed in his bedchamber matched the enormous one that she had seen in his chambers at Darcy House.

Her escorts again gave her a moment to enjoy the sensation as the more want increases, the more the trepidation and fear will be easily overcome.

The master’s chambers had a bathing room as well, but his brass tub was of a size that would only hold one.

Elizabeth’s eyes again fell on the bed they would share at Pemberley, and she could barely stop herself from climbing into his bed just to be surrounded by his essence.

From the master suite, they descended the main stairs where they met the two dukes waiting for them at the doors that led to the library.

Lady Elizabeth saw that her father was waiting with bated breath, and she could well imagine how much he was anticipating seeing what lay beyond the wide double doors.

Truth be told, she was no less excited than her Papa was!

“Close your eyes and give me your hand,” William requested.

As she placed her delicate hand in his much larger one, Elizabeth felt a shiver slide under her skin from her hand down to her toes when their ungloved hands touched.

As Darcy opened the doors, even before she opened her eyes, she knew that she was to behold something exceptional as she heard her father gasp in wonder.

“Open your eyes, Elizabeth,” Darcy murmured, and when she complied, she was dumbfounded.

Never in her wildest imagination has she envisioned such a place.

The library went all the way up three stories with spiral staircases on either side that allowed access to the second and third floors.

There were ladders on wheels on each level to access the upper shelves.

There were books and items like a globe filling almost every space available.

If she lived five lifetimes, she doubted that she would be able to read half of the tomes she could see, let alone all those she could not.

“Put a bed in here when I visit you, Lizzy, as wild horses will not remove me from this magnificent library,” her father teased, only half in jest and his wife swatted him on the arm playfully.

“There will be no hiding from your family in this room, Thomas,” she said with authority.

“Yes, dear,” was the only reply that the Duke of Hertfordshire made as he drank in what his eyes could scarce behold.

“Oh, the smell of the leather and the number of books. William, you told me your library was large, but that was an unjustified downplaying of the truth! This is beyond my imagination!” Lady Elizabeth looked at him with wonder then again at the library that was part of her very soon to be home.

“This collection is the work of many generations, starting with Pierre D’Arcy in the time of William the Conqueror.

He was gifted the land that Pemberley stands on, and soon after our name was changed to Darcy.

He brought a large collection of tomes with him from France, books that were hand printed and today are preserved as they are very fragile.

They were mostly religious; and the collection was started when there was limited availability of hand-printed books.

He started collecting available books in English just after he had the original house built.

Even then the library was the largest room in his house.

Every subsequent master of Pemberley, including myself, have added to the collection.

You see the results surrounding us in this room.

” Darcy smiled as he could not have hoped for a better reaction.

“My George loved this room, and he passed that love onto both of my children,” Lady Anne said wistfully as she again thought about her beloved late husband.

Lord Thomas Bennet remained in the library as his wife and Lady Anne retired to the latter’s private sitting room. Darcy and his betrothed prepared to take a ramble in the park to introduce Lady Elizabeth to some of the myriad walking paths at Pemberley, escorted by Biggs and Johns.